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Six years ago, my family of 6 moved to Panama City, Panama, for a three-year work assignment. Follow us as we navigate truly living in a third culture environment- never knowing when the call to move will come again.

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We're not difficult to feed!!

We leave shortly for a trip to the United States, and I've received more than one message from anxious hostesses concerned about what we can eat. I know it seems overwhelming at first glimpse, but it's really not hard at all. I thought I'd write one blog so I can make sure everyone gets the same, complete information. Let's start with two opening thoughts.

First up, thank you so much for being willing to consider our whole food plant based (WFPB) diet. It really means a lot to us that people are so concerned about making sure we have something to eat when we're visiting.

Secondly, we are totally fine preparing and bringing food to share that we can eat. Please, don't feel like you have to do the work. This choice is ours, and we're willing to do all the work.

With that being said, here are the basics.

What We Don't Eat:
-beef
-pork
-turkey
-chicken
-eggs
-milk
-butter
-any other animal product (such as chicken stock, red dye #40, cream soups, mayo)
-soda (absolutely zero- there is NO give room in this. None. It took the kids too long to escape the cravings, and we aren't going back.)

What We Rarely Eat:
-fish (less than 4 oz a month)
-oil (of any kind)
-Ranch dressing (less than 1 tbsp per week)

What Does This Mean for You:
Again, I'm just so appreciative of people even taking our diet into consideration, and I'm willing to bring food to share to any gathering. Here are some suggestions for those who were asking me for ideas.

Backyard Grill-Out:
If you're serving hot dogs and hamburger with all the fixings, we can have the buns and all the fixings (minus cheese). I love a grilled onion sandwich with fresh tomatoes and lettuce. Yummy! Corn on the cob is great, too! Or fresh carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms. And the bounty of fresh berries has my girls very excited about returning to the States! That would be an excellent meal for us!!

Sunday Dinner:
This usually brings to mind a meat and three vegetables, right? Well, we'll happily just eat the sides. One of the easiest substitutions would be to throw a few potatoes in the oven with the roast so we could have baked potatoes instead of mashed potatoes (because of the added butter and milk). If you could just pull out some of the side vegetables before the butter is added, that would also be fabulous. Of course, a salad is an easy crown pleaser. Remember, if any of this is beyond what you are interested in tackling, that's TOTALLY ok! I can bring dishes that are good for my family, and everyone could give them a try!

Big Breakfast:
I'm going to be really honest. This one is a little more difficult. I can't veganize eggs and bacon. They're eggs and bacon, but I do have some yummy recipes for pancakes that have no animal products and no special, crazy ingredients. We feed them to our meat and dairy-loving friends, and no one has ever noticed. Again, fresh fruit or fruit smoothies (without dairy milk or dairy yogurt) are great options!

Taco Bar:
Probably the easiest food to turn plant-based, a taco bar just needs a couple of cans of black beans or vegan refried beans, and we are good to go!

Spaghetti:
Leave the meat out of the sauce. Make sure the jarred (or homemade) sauce is cheese/meat free. Leave butter off the garlic bread. Viola!Lunch:
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's a staple for kids and vegans a like!

Eating Out:
No worries here. You pick where y'all want to go, and we will make it work.

The BEWARE food:
I just wanted to point out the one food category that I think I lot of people miss when we're talking about a WFPB diet. The Baked Good. Cookies, cakes, fruit breads, muffins. Unless you are intentionally making these foods vegan, they aren't. (Well, oreos are.) The kids have already asked permission to earn a treat of Grandma A's snickerdoodles. We've allowed that one exception, because it's Grandma A's snickerdoodles!

So, does that help? Hopefully, this will help take the scary out of feeding us, but if it doesn't, that's OK! I'll bring food! No worries!!

And, remember, we are coming to visit YOU so don't let this food thing get in the way of that relationship building time!
Much love,
Lisa

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Comments

Anonymous said…

Thank you. That is a great help. I will still worry about having the wrong things around, but will do my best to keep the pantry gluten-free, sugar free and vegan friendly.Can't wait to see you all.Love,Grams

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